The Demon Slayer Movie: Mugen Train which was released in October 2020 saw one of the legendary Hashiras being killed in a fight against one of the upper fives. Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, was involved in an intense battle against Akaza, the Upper Moon 3 of demon leader Muzan’s demonic horde. Though Rengoku gave his all during his fierce encounter with Akaza, he was not able to eliminate the demon. Kyojuro died from his severe battle injuries leaving the younger demon slayers, Tanjiro and Inosuke in tears and grief.

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It Was a Tremendous Means to Introduce an Upper Moon Demon

During the introductory season of the anime show, we got to see the strength and abilities of various Lower Moon demons. We also realized that the Hashiras were a great force to be reckoned with after watching some intense actions of Hashiras, such as Giyu Tomioka, Shinobu Kocho, and Kyojuro Rengoku.

Still, we didn’t really know the implication of the Upper Moon demon category. Of course, the demons had to be way stronger than Rui the formidable Lower Moon 5 or the show would’ve been considered sloppy. So, the creators of the show didn’t mind killing off a powerful Hashira to prove that battling the Upper Moon demons isn’t just a stroll in the park. Poor Rengoku!

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His Death Was Needed to Motivate Tanjiro, Inosuke, And Zenitsu To Train Harder

Before Kyojuro Rengoku’s painful demise, the younger demon slayers were training at a relatively sluggish pace. While Tanjiro was inspired to kill Muzan as a revenge against killing his mother and siblings, Inosuke and Zenitsu had less tangible reasons to train as demon slayers.

However, as Tanjiro and Inosuke witnessed Kyojuro Rengoku’s heroic death, they realized they had to put in more effort to become better demon slayers. Zenitsu also learns that he can’t climb to the position of a Hashira by being weak and lazy. Thus, Kyojuro’s death was significant.

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It Paved a Way For Tanjiro to Learn About His Innate Sun Breathing Ability

Though Tanjiro primarily made use of the water technique in the first season of the anime series, the show’s second season makes us understand that the Sun Breathing technique, which is apparently the most powerful breathing technique and source of other breathing techniques, is Tanjiro’s innate ability. His father utilized this breathing technique to perform the Hinokami Kagura dance. 

Tanjiro only became aware of his innate ability when he visited the Rengokus’ family home after Kyojuro’s death. In an unconventional way, the makers of the show may have felt the need to kill off Kyojuro to lure Tanjiro to Kyojuro’s father, who knew about his hidden ability and subsequently revealed it to Tanjiro. What other way could Tanjiro have met Kyojuro’s dad?

Hence, Kyojuro Rengoku sadly needed to die to allow Tanjiro discover and reach his full potential to defeat Muzan.